Rear Guard
by jackwabbit
Summary: Gen, Ronon/Rodney/Jeannie Miller Friendship. Season Five. Spoilers: The Shrine. Summary: Someone Must Always Watch Over Those Left Behind.


**Rear Guard**

Rated: PG

Category: Gen, Ronon/Rodney/Jeannie Miller Friendship.

Season: Five.

Spoilers: The Shrine.

Summary: Someone Must Always Watch Over Those Left Behind.

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Jeannie Miller sat alone in Atlantis' cafeteria in the dead of night.

John and Teyla had already come and gone, respecting her need for privacy. Dr. Keller was still in the infirmary. Woolsey was as uncomfortable around Jeannie as she was with him.

And so she sat alone, as much of the station slept around her.

She wasn't eating, only sitting. Sitting and thinking. Her mind whirred with a thousand memories, and it wasn't used to that. Complicated math proofs and physics formulas that only a handful of people on Earth could decipher? Not a problem. Images of her brother as a nearly drooling idiot? Another story entirely, and something she simply had no idea how to manage.

And so she sat, staring nearly catatonically into a cup of coffee long gone cold.

She didn't notice the dark figure in the farthest corner of the room.

She only saw her brother.

She saw him at six years old, winning a regional chess tournament and gloating over the other boys.

She saw him later that night, furious with her for beating him at his own game.

She watched him try to pretend he knew all about hockey at thirteen to impress a girl he'd had his eye on.

She watched herself call his bluff and embarrass him mightily.

She relived the fight they'd had over Caleb, and was amazed again that space itself hadn't torn open at the violence of that one. The insults that had filled the air that day would've made any seasoned sailor blush. Jeannie bit her lip and nearly cried as she remembered one particularly vicious barb she'd jabbed into Rodney that day. He'd been wrong, but things had gotten very out of hand, and he hadn't deserved some of the attacks that she'd lobbied at him.

That day had cost Jeannie her brother, and for years she'd somehow told herself that that had been entirely his fault; that things were better with him and his constant condescension out of her life. He came by to see Madison as a newborn and even brought a gift, but he was cold and closed-off even then. Afterwards, he hadn't called or written, but neither had Jeannie.

It had taken a thunderbolt of inspiration to bring them back together. A random epiphany of brilliance. A simple day of playing with her daughter had changed Jeannie's life forever, and through a bizarre twist of fate and circumstance, had brought her brother back to her.

Jeannie still didn't try to explain all of the events surrounding that incident to herself. All she knew was that Meredith was back in her life, and more importantly, back in Madison's. Mad loved having a grumpy uncle with a weird job, and while he wouldn't admit it, Rodney loved that little girl to pieces, too.

God, Madison. Suddenly, Jeannie's world was filled with thoughts of her little girl. She saw that stupid little figurine that Rodney had given her sitting on Madison's nightstand. She thought of how Rodney had gallantly, if stupidly, rushed to her rescue when she'd been kidnapped the year before and how if he hadn't, she might never have seen Madison again.

She thought of how excited Madison had been when Rodney had come for Christmas. Tears filled Jeannie's eyes as she remembered the way her brother had entertained Mad for hours with fictionalized stories of his missions in the Pegasus galaxy. His ego and inability to shut his mouth had for once worked to everyone's advantage.

Then she remembered the constant griping about the food and Rodney's heated debate with Caleb over dinner about whether or not the arts constituted an actual career.

Jeannie laughed out loud through her tears at the complete social ineptitude of her brother. He was a genius, but he was a moron, and that only made Jeannie love him all the more. The sound reverberated through the empty cafeteria. It came out sounding more like a choked sob than a laugh.

The figure in the shadowy corner shifted and nearly stood.

Jeannie laughed a few seconds more, then sighed.

Genius, moron, or both, Meredith Rodney McKay was her brother.

And he was in trouble.

Trouble that might be insurmountable.

Trouble that reeked of irony and smacked of brutal bad luck.

Trouble that came in the form of a parasite. A brain killing parasite.

It was beyond ridiculous, and Jeannie was suddenly angry.

She was angry at Dr. Keller for not being able to fix her brother. She was angry with herself for not knowing the answer. She was angry at the parasite. She was angry at the ice dam that had broken and caused all this nonsense to begin with. She was angry at Woolsey for not allowing the mission that might give Rodney a chance to be himself, even for a moment. But most of all, she was angry with Rodney. She was angry at the blithering idiot in the infirmary who was merely a shell of her brother. She was angry with him for being so stupid as to get himself infected with something like this. She was angry with him for being so damned irritating and yet so lovable at the same time. She was furious with him for even being her brother and thus making her have to deal with this.

Jeannie's body stiffened and her grip on her mug tightened until her knuckles were white.

The figure in the corner sat up sharply.

It happened in an instant.

While her brain impotently screamed that her actions would help no one, Jeannie's emotions spiraled out of control. Her rage and grief overcame all of her senses.

Her coffee cup flew across the empty room and shattered against a window as rain poured down outside. Her chair pushed back from the table violently then turned over backward from the force of her standing. Her body flooded with adrenaline, and all she wanted to do was run. Run far and run fast until she could run no more.

But she couldn't run.

She couldn't even move.

Before her mug had even impacted the window, the figure in the corner had responded to the change in Jeannie's mood. He'd been expecting it, and he was across the room before Jeannie's chair hit the ground.

Mocha-colored arms surrounded Jeannie, pinning her tight from behind. She could barely move, but that didn't stop her from trying. She squirmed and fought against her captor as tears streamed down her face.

Words came from her mouth, but they were largely unintelligible fragments of thoughts, and all of them were directed against her brother and his situation, not the arms surrounding her.

"How dare he…stupid…not fair…idiot…"

For his part, Ronon Dex did not let go.

He held Jeannie Miller tight against his chest as she flailed about. After a moment, he turned her bodily around to face him. He'd planned on trying to break through her fit, but after a good shaking didn't faze her, he knew that wasn't to be. Not yet. So he crushed Jeannie tight against his chest again and let her ride out the waves of her emotions.

Jeannie ineffectually punched and kicked at Ronon, spouting obscenities the entire time and finally beginning to demand her freedom. She landed some blows that made the big man wince, but still he did not let go.

Finally, as suddenly as it began, Jeannie's fit stopped. She continued to cry, but her body stilled. After a moment, her tears receded, as well.

It was only then that Ronon gentled his grip. He didn't let go, but he relaxed his arms and held Jeannie out at arm's length. His big hands were on her shoulders, and he ducked down to look her in the eye.

"Better?"

Jeannie sniffed once and nodded, wiping her nose with her hand.

"Ronon?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"What are you doing here?"

Ronon grinned. "You're not the only one to ever need to pitch a fit, you know…"

Jeannie snuffed out a little snort. "Sorry."

Ronon shrugged. "No big deal."

"Still…"

"I said it was no big deal. Come on."

Ronon dragged Jeannie out of the mess and down a corridor, and she was too tired to argue. In no time at all, they were outside Ronon's quarters. Ronon turned to Jeannie and gave her a 'hold on' motion, then slipped inside his room.

"Wait here a minute, ok?"

Jeannie nodded, not sure what the big man was up to, but content to wait. Ronon reappeared a moment later carrying two large glass flasks. Jeannie gave the bottles an inquisitive look, at which Ronon only shrugged.

"Satedan tonic. Good for whatever's ailing."

Jeannie laughed a bit. "You're going to get me drunk?"

Ronon laughed back. "Hardly, although I wouldn't be averse to the idea. This has a bit of a kick to it, but it's barely alcoholic. Mostly teas and herbs and the like. My mother used to make it for me when I was sick as a kid. All Satedans drink it from practically birth."

"And you just happen to have some lying around?"

Ronon nodded. "Sure do. Make it myself. Works a bit better than what they hand out in the infirmary, that's for sure."

Jeannie took her bottle and raised it to Ronon, still a little unsure but not wanting to be rude. Besides, she frankly thought that a drink really wasn't such a bad idea, either, given the circumstances. Ronon grinned and raised his bottle, too.

Both Jeannie and Ronon took a swig of the liquid, which was surprisingly good.

"Well?" asked Ronon.

"Not bad," answered Jeannie.

"Good. Come on, I'll walk you to your quarters."

"Such a gentleman," teased Jeannie.

"Nah, I just don't want to listen to Sheppard complain tomorrow if I let you get lost and someone issues an alert. Not to mention, McKay would kill me."

The good humor that had developed since Jeannie's outburst evaporated. Ronon closed his eyes and mentally berated himself for his words. They had come without thought. Jeannie grew sad for a moment, then took another swig of her Satedan tonic and grinned at Ronon.

"Wait 'til I tell him you coerced me to your quarters under emotional distress in the middle of the night and then suggested getting drunk might not be a bad idea."

Ronon roared with laughter, and he and Jeannie continued walking.

It went like that for the half hour it took them to reach Jeannie's guest quarters at a very leisurely pace. Their mood was up and down and all over the map as their tonics disappeared steadily. Ronon gave Jeannie as much information as he could about the Shrine of the Ancestors, and Jeannie regaled Ronon with tales from Rodney's childhood. No decisions were made, but the raw emotion of the day dissipated to a bearable level.

Ronon dropped Jeannie off at her quarters in the wee hours of the morning, where she fell asleep almost instantly. She'd wake a whole lot calmer and more able to make the hard decisions that were staring her in the face. She'd also wake with a new appreciation for Satedan tonic and, more importantly, Ronon Dex.

Neither she nor Ronon would share their night with anyone, but many days and an insane adventure later, when Jeannie Miller prepared to return to her family and to Earth, she'd manage to catch Ronon alone for a moment.

"Ronon."

"Yeah?"

"Just wanted to say thanks."

Ronon didn't pretend to not know what Jeannie was talking about. "No problem."

"Still, you didn't have to, and I appreciate it."

"I said no problem, and for the record, yes I did."

"Why?"

"You're McKay's sister. That's enough for me."

Jeannie smiled. "Me, too."

And it was. Jeannie returned to Earth and miraculously didn't get called back to Atlantis for a while.

Rodney visited for Christmas again that year, bearing a bottled gift from Ronon amongst his own.

He made Madison laugh and fought with Caleb and drove Jeannie crazy.

And all was right in the universe.


End file.
